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customs form
I sold a pair of lightning charging cables to a buyer in Puerto Rico. The sales page says I need a customs form. I must have missed this in the international shipping reading material. What do I need to do? It needs to be shipped by Tuesday and it is Saturday. Thank you.
Edit: I found the information on the ebay website. Let me know if I have this correct. Before purchasing the label through pirateship, I need to go to the post office and request a form to fill out. Do I then upload a pic of the filled out form to pirateship? Do I give it to the post office? I'm thinking I'm supposed to affix the filled out form to the box in a special envelope. Also can i get a bunch of these forms and envelopes for later use? Any info appreciated, thanks.
scavengers_den
OP2 years agoThank you for the info. Pirateship said their site will ask for the customs form sometimes even if it's not needed. So that issue is on their end. When the package is more than a pound going to PR it may need one apparently. Even if you are shipping less than a pound, Pirateship asks for one, but it can be ignored after filling it out. I was concerned that putting the information in on Pirateship would somehow flag the label as needing a customs form, but that's not the case.
As far as the address issue, the label was not printed out with the "Puerto Rico" underneath that the buyer had in their address on ebay, but only as "Vieques PR 00765" so I assume that is fine, since USPS does not require "United States" to be printed at the bottom, like some other shippers do.
It made no sense Pirateship would make me fill out the info when PR is part of the US. So i'm off to ship this thing. All these rules get confusing but it's worth it to be able to ship international. Appreciate the help.
scavengers_den
OP2 years agoOn the ebay printing page, I see no option for customs, so that sounds promising. However I think the buyer listed their address wrong, showing Puerto Rico as the state and country. I read a post with someone that had a similar problem. Is this the correct format?
Vieques, PR 00765
Puerto Rico
Shouldn't it read
Vieques, PR 00765
United States
And should I contact the buyer to have them change the address? Also could I just uncheck the customs box on pirateship and ship without it? Pretty sure I can't get in trouble when it's not required since PR is a US territory.
Edit: This is the notice on pirateship:
"Customs Form Required for International, Military APO/FPO, and U.S. Territories"
I'm assuming this is a new rule? So customs forms are required for Puerto Rico?
If so it appears Pirateship prints it out too. I don't have a printer, so I'm guessing i'll have to hit the library. Not sure if I need that special envelope from usps. Does it get affixed to the outside of the package?
comics-scifi-collectibles
Mentor2 years ago@scavengers_den THIS is the correct format>
Vieques, PR 00765
United States
I would cancel the sale as problem with buyers address. Let them know that they need to update their address and then purchase again. YOU can't change the address from what is shown at checkout.
You can use the QR code option on eBay if you don't have a printer. Just select Advanced on the label form on the upper right and then the QR code option is at the bottom. You just show the post office the code on your phone and they print the label for you.
scavengers_den
OP2 years agoI have a Rollo label printer, just not a normal paper one to print a customs form. Didn't know about the QR thing. That's helpful. I already printed the pirateship label and affixed it to the envelope though. The address reads
P.O. Box XXX
Vieques PR 00765
So I'm assuming that is a correct US address, or does "united states" have to be on the label? Want to be sure before I cancel and possibly get a refund on the label to redo it. From what I read it seems the U.S. territories need a custom form anyway. I think I will have to call the post office on tuesday to see how to go about aquiring the printed out form, or get them to print the form and affix it to the envelope. Strange thing is it says "not required for large envelopes under 16 oz" or something similar. Yet that's what I'm shipping it in and I am still required to create one. Pirateship allows you to enter the customs form details, but has no instructions on what to do to transfer that information into an actual form. I'm wondering if I even really need to do it with the under 16oz thing.
comics-scifi-collectibles
Mentor2 years ago@scavengers_den. SOME territories do require custom forms. Puerto Rico as I have said is NOT one of them.
As I said before this is NOT the correct format for the address and is probably why you are running into the customs form problem.
comics-scifi-collectibles
Mentor2 years ago@scavengers_den
This does NOT sound correct for Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a US territory and you just ship there using USPS like you would any item. Did your buyer use Puerto Rico as a country for their shipping address instead of the US? That causes problems.
I recommend trying to print the label from eBay instead of Pirateship and see if a customs form is required. IF it is then eBay will print the form out for you, no extra leg work.